Utamaro and the Spectacle of Beauty

Utamaro (1753?-1806) was a Japanese artist who specialized in color prints known as ukiyo-e. He was particularly known, both in Japan and the West, for his images of women. Davis (history of art, University of Pennsylvania) examines Utamaro's work in terms of gender study and the intention of the art. She notes the legal restraints places on artists in Japan at this time and how Utamaro and his publisher both worked within and around them. The artist's series of prints of prostitutes, Davis believes, romanticized the profession, supporting the social concept of women as objects. She also explores the ways in which Utamaro marketed himself through his work, becoming one of the best-known of the ukiyo-e artists in Japan. Annotation 穢2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)